Bagir calls bribe accusation slanderous

Bagir calls bribe accusation slanderous

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Supreme Court Chief Justice Bagir Manan reiterated on Wednesday
he had not received any bribe money from businessman
Probosutedjo, describing the accusation made by the latter's
lawyer as "slanderous".

"This is 100 percent slander against me as chief justice
because I don't know -- and have nothing to do with -- this
bribery case," he said at his office, the day after Probosutedjo
admitted to giving his lawyer Rp 6 billion (US$600,000) to bribe
the chief justice and other court officials dealing with his
appeal against his graft conviction.

Bagir, who is also a professor of law at Padjadjaran
University in Bandung, said the bribery allegation had damaged
his reputation as well as that of the Supreme Court.

"I am very firm against bribery. Since I became a chief
justice, bribery eradication has been my number one priority," he
said.

A number of judges, as well as court officials, have been
punished by the Supreme Court for their involvement in bribery
cases, Bagir claimed.

He challenged Probosutedjo, who claimed he had disbursed a
total of Rp 16 billion in bribe money to court officials since he
was convicted by the Central Jakarta District Court in 2003 over
a graft case, to report the identities of the court officials to
the Supreme Court.

It was alleged by Probosutedjo that Rp 10 billion was
disbursed while his case was being heard at the district and the
high court. The remaining Rp 6 billion was disbursed after his
lawyer, Harini Wijoso, suggested that he bribe Supreme Court
officials and judges to overturn his two-year prison sentence
handed down by the Jakarta High Court.

He had initially been sentenced to four years' imprisonment by
the Central Jakarta District Court.

The lawyer allegedly told Probosutedjo that Rp 5 billion of
the Rp 6 billion would be given to Bagir, who lead the panel of
three Supreme Court justices who heard the appeal case. The other
Rp 1 billion would be allocated for the other judges and several
Supreme Court staff members, the lawyer said.

"Did he give the money to the district court or to the appeal
court? We need to know in order to root out what happened,"
Bagir said, referring to possible court mafia.

Bagir said for the time being he would not step down from his
position as suggested by a number of parties, including the
Judicial Commission.

"I have no reason to step down. I am innocent. I have nothing
to do with bribery," he said.

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has so far
arrested Harini, a judge-turned-lawyer, and five Supreme Court
employees since last Friday in relation to the bribery case. The
KPK confiscated some $400,000 and Rp 800 million of the alleged
bribe money.

The five Supreme Court staff members are: general affairs
bureau head Malam Pagi Sinuhadji; Suhartoyo and Sudi Ahmad, both
of whom work for the court's Indonesian civil servants corps
unit; Sriyadi, a staff member with the court's civil affairs
division; and Pono Waluyo, a staff member with the court's travel
division.

Probosutejo, the half-brother of Soeharto, was convicted of
abusing reforestation funds, which cost the state some Rp 100
billion in losses.